Users of portable audio players typically have large collections of music content stored on local computers, on remote servers and/or on their players. Most content management software tools (e.g., iTunes®, etc.) allows the user to organize their audio collection into playlists for downloading to their portable audio player. Users arrange their music into playlists to create a desired listening experience. To refresh the music on a player, typical music players must be plugged into a local computer host to access music files stored thereon.
Today, many wireless mobile communication devices (smartphones, superphones, etc.) include microprocessors, memory, soundcards, media player hardware and software, Wi-Fi® radio, and run one or more software applications in addition to providing for voice communications. Examples of software applications used in these wireless devices include media players, micro-browsers, address books, email clients, instant messaging (IM) clients, and wavetable instruments. Additionally, wireless devices have access to a plurality of services via the Internet. A wireless device may, for example, be used to browse web sites on the Internet, to transmit and receive graphics, and to execute streaming audio and/or video applications. Such wireless devices may operate on a cellular network, on a wireless local area network (WLAN), or on both of these types of networks.
In a WLAN, an access point is a station that transmits and receives data (sometimes referred to as a transceiver). An access point in an infrastructure BSS (or a client node acting as an AP in an Independent BSS) connects users to other users within the network and also can serve as the point of interconnection between the WLAN and a wired LAN. Each access point can serve multiple users within a defined network area. As users move beyond the range of one access point (i.e., when they roam), they are automatically handed over to the next one. A small WLAN may only require a single access point. The number of access points required increases as a function of the number of network users and the physical size of the network. The access point is typically an IEEE 802.11 (i.e. Wi-Fi) radio receiver/transmitter (or transceiver) and functions as a gateway or bridge between a WLAN and a wired LAN.